How to Make Delicious Desserts in Your Crock Pot

Slow cookers are God's gift to the busy cook. We simply throw in our ingredients, flip on the crock pot, and by the time we get home from work, we have a delicious meal waiting for us. But while slow cookers are great for hearty and hot meals, they can also be used to make truly fantastic and unique desserts. Not many people consider making dessert in a crock pot (I know I was skeptical for a long time), but these fruity desserts have proved to be a huge hit every time I've made them. So give one a try and put a new spin on your slow cooker!

Black and Blue Cobbler
1 cup flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh blackberries
¾ cup water
1 tsp. grated orange peel
¾ cup sugar
Whipped cream or ice cream
Combine flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Combine eggs, milk, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients until moistened. Spread the batter evenly over bottom of greased 5-quart slow cooker. In a saucepan, combine berries, water, orange peel, and ¾ cup sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over batter in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on high 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until toothpick inserted into batter comes out clean. Stir off slow cooker. Uncover and let stand 30 minutes before serving. Spoon from cooker and serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Apple Cake
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups chopped apples
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Beat together sugar, oil and eggs. Add vanilla. Add apples and mix well. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients and nuts to apple mixture and stir well. Pour batter into greased and floured bread or cake pan that fits into your slow cooker. Cover with pan's lid, or greased tin foil. Place pan in slow cooker. Cover cooker. Bake on for high 3 ½ to 4 hours. Let cake stand in pan for 5 minutes after removing from pan from slow cooker. Remove cake from pan, slice and serve.

Cherry Delight
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
1 package yellow cake mix
½ cup butter
1/3 cup walnuts
Ice cream
Place pie filling in greased slow cooker. Combine dry cake mix and butter (mixture will be crumbly). Sprinkle over pie filling. Sprinkle with walnuts. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. Allow to cool, then service in bowls with ice cream.

Enjoy!